Google Apps Admin Help

A CNAME record is a setting in the Domain Name System, and you can create CNAME records with your domain host.

There are two reasons to create a CNAME record for Google Apps: verifying domain ownership and customizing a URL.

For ownership verification, use the random string provided in the control panel to create a CNAME record that points to google.com. Your unique random string is provided in the verification instructions in the control panel. Remember: The control panel for your domain is available at https://www.google.com/a/your_domain.com. (Be sure to replace 'your_domain.com' with your actual domain name.)

For custom URLs, pick an address at your domain (e.g., pages.my_domain.com), and create a corresponding CNAME record that points to ghs.google.com

Note: CNAME records for verification points to google.com while CNAME records for custom URLs point to ghs.google.com.

1. Sign in to your hosting account, and go to the DNS management page.
   CNAME records may be in sections such as DNS Management or Name Server Management. You may have to enable advanced settings to create a CNAME record. Please contact your domain host directly if you can't locate the CNAME management options.
2. (If applicable) Delete the existing CNAME entry for the alias or unique string.
   For example, if you're creating a CNAME record for 'mail,' be sure to delete any existing CNAME records for 'mail.'
3. Use the information in this table when you create your CNAME record. Terms used to create CNAME records vary by host. Always use google.com for verification and ghs.google.com for custom urls.

Host Name/Alias	Value/Destination
Custom URL: www	ghs.google.com
Verification: googlefffggghhh12345 (your unique string)	google.com

Your CNAME record is now configured to point to Google. Keep in mind that changes to your DNS settings may take up to 48 hours to propagate throughout the Internet.

After completing domain ownership verification, you can remove the CNAME record. However, for custom URLs, you must leave the CNAME record intact.

Want someone to do this for you? Get professional help with setup.

Each hosting service has slightly different ways to create CNAME records.

GoDaddy.com ix web hosting 1and1 EveryDNS.net Lunarpages Yahoo!SmallBusiness No-IP DNS Park eNom Network Solutions MyDomain.com Dreamhost Domain Direct gandi.net eurodns.com register.com myhosting.com

Enter your verification string or custom URL prefix and your domain name, and then click Lookup.

Example verification string and domain name: googlefffffeee435.mightydinosaur.com
Example custom URL prefix and domain name: mail.mightydinosaur.com

By DNSstuff.com

CNAME Record Lookup

 

Enter prefix and domain name

The results will be shown in a new window powered by DNSstuff.com. Your CNAME records should look like this:

For domain verification: googlefffffeee435.mightydinosaur.com. | CNAME |IN | 3600 | google.com.
For custom URLS: mail.mightydinosaur.com. | CNAME |IN | 3600 | ghs.google.com.

The difference is that your unique verification string points to google.com while custom URLs point to ghs.google.com.

If your CNAME records are not pointing to the appropriate Google destination, please following the step-by-step instructions to create CNAME records.